H.R. 1797 & S. 1670 – The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection
Act

H.R. 1797, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would bar
post-20-week abortions except in cases of reported rape or incest or where a
pregnancy poses a physical threat to the mother’s life.

S. 1670 is the Senate version of the measure. It has slightly different
wording, but contains the same basic elements as H.R. 1797.

The bill is based on scientific research showing that unborn babies are
capable of feeling pain at 20 weeks of development.

H.R. 1797, as introduced, applied only to abortions performed in the
District of Columbia. In light of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s
multiple-murder convictions, the bill’s sponsor, Congressman Trent Franks
(AZ-8), decided to amend his bill so that its protections would apply
nationwide. That amendment, in the form of a substitute bill, was adopted at
a mark-up session of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice
on June 4.

The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act has been approved by the House
of Representatives and is now before the Senate.